Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'We are always quick to moan...so when we get great service, we should also be equally vocal...'

Matt Auffrey:

New Year’s Day didn’t bring us a new striker with an outstanding goal-scoring record, yet alone a win over Huddersfield at the Brick, but the alternative didn’t end up being too bad. We did sign a young defender with loads of potential from Arsenal on a three-and-a-half year deal. As for the postponed match, let’s think of it as a sign from Mother Nature that we needed the extra time off ahead of a visit from league juggernauts Birmingham this weekend. I’m sure Shaun Maloney would take any relief possible from four fixtures over a 10-day span. Hopefully no Wiganers were forced to make boats out of their cars in the aftermath of the floods.

The good news is that the club didn’t need a ‘perfect’ New Year’s Day to feel good about its trajectory for the rest of 2025. We’re seven points clear of the relegation places with at least a game in-hand on a good chunk of the division. The lads have finally started to display an eye for goal, and as a result, we’ve produced three consecutive solid away performances at Bolton, Rotherham, and Wrexham. We’ve taken a few bumps along the way - most notably the recent injuries to Matt Smith and Baba Adeeko - but we’ve generally performed consistently - no matter who has started or finished games.

The next few months could possibly bring a lot more of the same from 2024: inconsistent form, a frustrating playing style, and a bit of confusion regarding the long-term vision for the club. However, if you believe that the club turned a corner after the Bolton result and will only get stronger as the squad is fortified over the next month, then you surely have to be excited about our prospects for the rest of this season. Nonetheless, even with the Huddersfield fixture now coming at a later date, there are some great opportunities over the coming weeks to make a big mark early in the new year. Saturday’s visit from Birmingham is followed by a third round FA Cup tie at Mansfield next weekend. If we build some positive momentum over those two matches, we have an attractive slate against Stevenage, Bristol Rovers, and Burton to follow - all of whom are currently in the bottom half of the league table.

We came so close to securing a positive result at St. Andrew’s four months ago before a late injury forced us to finish the match with 10 men, and ultimately, concede a late winner to the hosts. Brum enter this match unbeaten over their last 10 fixtures and will be champing at the bit to regain the top spot in the league table should Wycombe slip up ahead of them. Yet, we know quite well this is the type of occasion where Maloney will have the lads ready to give their best effort and take the game to the visitors. The festive period may have passed, but that doesn’t mean the celebrations have to stop. I’m confident that this weekend will kickstart the year in a promising manner for the club. Bring on Saturday!

Alan Rogers:

Well, it's been a very mixed festive period - both on and off the pitch. Saturday the 21st was something of a rollercoaster...we had a nice bet come in at Haydock before the Shrewsbury game started, so we sat in our seats full of Christmas cheer. About two hours later, we were shaking our heads in disbelief. How did that one get away from us? Straight from the game we went to York for a few days to spend our Haydock winnings. And that's where things started to go downhill!

The kids discovered that my better half had gone completely rogue and had bought Christmas crackers...that you had to pull yourself! How does that even work? Chaos ensued. What fresh hell was this? Our PC kids went all traditional and demanded 'proper' crackers. That's why my planned boozing time at the Christmas market was replaced by a cracker search of York!

Anyway, Christmas Day came and went - slightly marred by absolutely awful last-minute reserve crackers - but mostly very nice. And then on Boxing Day our real present arrived...three points at Rotherham! I think it was probably my high alcohol level, but it seemed to be a great game. Looking back at a sober recording, it was far from great, but it was a welcome win.

And then we plunged back to the depths once more...Wrexham away. Absolutely no complaints about the team performance, but gutted to leave Wales with nothing. And so on to New Year's Day. We had been looking forward to this game more than usual, because we had old mates over from Canada and had booked hospitality. They spent New Year's Eve with us and, as we drove them back to Garswood in the early hours, we quickly sobered up as we negotiated floods of biblical proportions! Ended up coming home through Ashton!

Anyway, we never gave it a thought the following morning until the phone rang and someone from hospitality told me the game was off! Gutted doesn't describe the feeling but, after seeing the various pictures from around the region, it was fully understandable. Anyway, many thanks to Lisa from the hospitality team, who has moved our booking to the Birmingham game, which means our friends can make their usual pilgrimage to the stadium before they return home next week.

We are always quick to moan about things at the stadium, so when we get great service, we should also be equally vocal. And I hope we get a chance to be equally vocal in 2025 at good things happening at the Brick. I'm not going to make predictions or resolutions but, during today's ramblings, I've mentioned gambling and boozing. Can I just point out that the winning bet on the 21st was probably my only winning day over the festive period! There is a reason that Denise from Bet365 can afford to throw money away on Stoke! Keep your money in your pockets! And on that bombshell...a belated 'Happy New Year' everyone! Yep, even Ian Evatt, I've a feeling he's going to need good wishes soon…

Lowey:

Well our festive football fix ended in a total washout. The stadium became inaccessible and we had less chance of getting through than Huddersfield had of breaching our defence. No points picked up so far over the Christmas break - bloody rubbish Wigan! It’s the hope that kills you, and the Wrexham game totally demonstrated that feeling. A game in which most thought defeat was probable saw us undoubtedly be the better side, where a draw would have been an injustice. But as normally happens, the top sides have that bit of extra class and resources, and a top striker came on and won it - aided and abetted by another top-class (former Latics) winger.

The Huddersfield wash-out may not have been such a bad thing, with our midfield resources stretched, and it gives us a few extra days rest before the so-called top team in our division come to the stadium (if we've found the plug hole of course). We more than matched Birmingham at their place, but lost to another injury-time goal. How many points have we lost like this? Certainly feels a lot more than those gained.

So the January window is open, and the last position most expected to be recruited first was another right-back. We already have four players in that position. However, thinking deeper, two are really centre-backs, one is doing a fine job on the other flank, and the other is, well, let’s leave it at that. Hopefully a few more to follow, and see if we can start our new year with a statement win against a team who spent 16 million on a striker. FFP? Yeah right! Happy New Year to Tics and all!

Sean Livesey:

Clicking, gelling, call it what you like...but it feels like there's something special building with this side now. For the last four matches, we have definitely been the better side, across both halves. Now that's been more successful in some matches than others. Bolton was just a gloriously professional performance from minute one. Shrewsbury should have been the same, if not for two inexplicable mistakes from two of the most experienced players on the pitch. Rotherham was a mix of both Bolton and Shrewsbury. Like much of the season, Latics could and should have been further ahead, but Baba Adeeko's maiden goal meant that, much like Wallace and Gromit the previous evening, Lancashire was to win out.

I don't think many would have travelled to Wrexham expecting much, but once again Shaun Maloney's side controlled the match. We could and should have been ahead long before Wrexham scored from their first real chance. For Latics to lose in the manner we did was beyond cruel. Latics showed in that match that they can mix it with the top of the division, and that's with an ever burgeoning injury list. Adeeko joined Matt Smith in the treatment room, meaning the well stocked engine room is now down to the proverbial bare bones.

But a word to both Scott Smith and Jensen Weir...two talented young lads who have Wigan running through their DNA. They were excellent against Wrexham, and on another day we would be toasting them and a famous win at the Racecourse Ground. As the manager said: 'We were that good'. But good performances alone don't win points, and we need to start turning the chances into goals and the performances into results. I have no doubt it will come, but the injuries don't help at all.

The Huddersfield match being postponed was understandable, with much of Greater Manchester and large swathes of Wigan underwater. But it's a shame we were stopped in our tracks when we had performed so well over the last few weeks. If there is one benefit, it gives us a break from a relentless period of matches, and means we should be that bit fresher to face Birmingham. Saturday is going to be as tough as they get, in both Wrexham and Birmingham we're facing clubs that would make some Premier League teams blush with their level of spending. But if anyone casts their minds back to St Andrews in late August, that was another game like Wrexham where we should have got more than the late defeat we did. It's up to the gaffer and these talented young lads to make sure we start taking those chances.